Airbus has performed a first A380 flight powered by 100 per cent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Airbus’ A380 test aircraft MSN 1 took off from Blagnac Airport in Toulouse earlier.

The flight lasted about three hours, operating one Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine on 100 per cent SAF.

Some 27 tonnes of unblended SAF were provided by Total Energies for the flight.

The SAF produced in Normandy, close to Le Havre, was made from Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA), free of aromatics and sulphur, and primarily consisting of used cooking oil, as well as other waste fats.

A second flight, with the same aircraft, is scheduled to take place from Toulouse to Nice Airport to test the use of SAF during take-off and landing.

This is the third Airbus aircraft type to fly solely on SAF over the course of 12 months; the first was an Airbus A350 in March 2021 followed by an A319neo single-aisle aircraft in October.

All Airbus aircraft are currently certified to fly with up to a 50 per cent blend of SAF mixed with kerosene.

The aim is to achieve certification of 100 per cent SAF by the end of this decade.

The A380 aircraft used during the test is the same aircraft recently revealed as Airbus’ ZEROe Demonstrator - a flying testbed for future technologies instrumental to bringing the world’s first zero-emission aircraft to market by 2035.